Introduction

From the dust jacket of my book: 

Watching the nightly television news from the comfort of your favourite chair you could be forgiven for being oblivious to the effort that goes into getting those stories to air. And that's as it should be, for if the technique is obvious then the cameraman has failed. 

Yet capturing that footage demands at times not just technical proficiency but an ability to also sense a story and take the initiative when the situation arises. It's a blend as complex as the individual. But it also has its lighter moments. This little book attempts to capture both.

I was always a fan of ENG (Electronic News Gathering) because of the potential it offered for the live broadcasting of happening events, but I left NBN before it became established practice for news gathering. 

I was away shooting “Beating Around the Bush” when the newsroom received its first ENG camera and recorder for trialling. But no editing capability… save for dumping the BVU tape onto a one inch machine and take it from there. Given the demands on and scarcity of tape machines, this was a distinct hurdle, if not a roadblock for ENG. Nevertheless, after discovering this new toy I was keen to try it. Less keen were my colleagues who were decidedly unimpressed because of the combined weight of the camera, battery and recorder. They had a legitimate beef. 

Pictured: Jeff Beach in foreground and the Bedford OB van interior. Cameraman 'Cats' with Ikegami HL-33 ENG camera. U-matic recorder on ground near tripod.

Pause here for a little necessary background. Historically, news had always been shot on film simply because that was all that existed. The arrival of videotape offered cost savings, or so went the rationale, as the tape could be erased and re-used. Too bad if you wanted to reuse some of that vision you shot a couple of weeks back. While a library system was established the library copy wasn’t of the same quality as the original - such is economics.

While early sound-on-film news cameras were both bulky and heavy, changes in materials substituting magnesium alloy and plastic for traditional metal construction noticeably reduced their weight. With an on-board battery and amplifier Cinema Products created the CP16, an all-in-one news camera for single person operation. This is a critical point. Capital cities generally fielded two man crews for their news gathering: cameraman and sound man (yes, in those days they were mainly men). The regionals, such as NBN, eschewed the position of a sound man as too expensive. So we were one man bands. But the CP was light and highly functional. In fact it was purpose designed for the market. 

By comparison, the new ENG gear comprising camera, battery belt and recorder, was both bulky and heavy weighing in at approximately four to five times the weight of the film camera. Initially there was no plan to add a sound man to lighten the burden by carrying the recorder. We cameramen were expected to simply shoulder the burden and ignore the long term risks to our backs from lugging around a package nudging thirty kilograms. Fortunately common-sense eventually prevailed and a sound man was added. What was that about economics?

Rubbing further salt into the wound was the comparatively poor quality of the pictures produced by the electronic camera. The techs tired of us asking them to continually adjust it.

Pictured: Cameraman Phil Balsdon with NBN's Ikegami HL-33 in Winns auditorium. Dignitaries include NSW State Premier Neville Wran and Newcastle Lord Mayoress Joy Cummings.

I’ll return now to the main narrative after that little historical discursion. Despite the perceived shortcomings of the equipment I nevertheless gave it a shot. I did a story with Jim Sullivan about a fatal shooting at Warners Bay. The news was already in progress when I left the station but by judiciously choosing my shots and editing in the camera we had the story on air before the news had ended. That kinda showed ENG’s potential (and a willingness to break the speed limit to get a story)

But it was far from plain sailing. I was working the breakfast shift with Robyn Wade and we were told of a yacht in distress off Port Stephens. I told Robyn I would get her some live pictures from the chopper even if it was only waves etc. As it turned out I couldn’t get live pictures back to the station for reasons unknown so I shot the story of the crew’s rescue on my CP which fortunately I had taken with me. Left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. 

Fast forward to today and the technological transformation of ENG is almost complete. We are back to one man bands but with a much lighter and compact camera with integrated recorder, not to mention lighter tripods and lighting equipment. As for live broadcasts… an everyday thing. No aerials, no dishes, just a lightweight backpack worn by the cameraman. And it can be sent from almost anywhere in the world.

“Streaming” is the new buzzword, you might have to use a dictionary if you want to find “broadcasting”.

I said almost complete as we are yet to convince smart phone users to hold their phones horizontally so that we can see all of the picture, not just the middle third. Maybe news cameramen still have something to offer. I would like to think so.

 ~ Barry